When Clarence W. Pierce founded the college in 1947, he had three main goals he wanted for the School of Agriculture.
- Educate future farmers and ranchers, veterinarians, veterinary technicians, florists, equestrians, horticulturists and others involved with our vast industry.
- Educate “city folk” on where their food and fiber comes from
- Prepare students to transfer to a four year institution or graduate school.
Pierce retains these objectives today.
The Agricultural Department is unique because of the farm that is available for students to use. Pierce is home to more than 125 farm animals, including 50 – 60 goats, 20 cows, 40 chickens, 15 – 20 sheep, a pot-bellied pig, an alpaca and a tortoise.
Michelle Carcamo is an agricultural technician for the goat unit. She teaches students and student workers how to take care of and tend to the goats.
Darren Bueno is a student worker with the goat unit and Natalie Albizo is the works with the sheep unit.
Each student worker is in charge of a unit along with an employee that works with them.
There are many classes students can take to learn about the anatomy and physiology, nutrition and health of animals.
Students take Agricultural Enterprise Projects (Animal Science 596A – 596D) to work with the animals. The times are varied because it is a lab, and students are assigned duties on the first day of class.
